Paraguayan production trio LPZ are back, bigger, better and House-ier than ever, with a new four track EP ‘Think For Yourself’ just released on Belgian label, Body Work.
The follow up to their widely applauded debut ‘1983,’ LPZ continue to prove three heads are better than one, fusing all the best bits from Acid, Electronica and House to create a big, ballsy sound that just wont be ignored.
We sat down with LPZ this week to discuss the new EP, their eclectic musical influences and the budding Paraguayan music scene.
HBF: Let’s kick off with the obvious; who and what are your biggest musical influences? What inspired you to start making electronic music?
We come from different backgrounds to be honest, Jorge used to be in a black metal band and is a big jungle/dn’b fan, Ariel used to play in funk bands and was into hip-hop then got crazy about the more 4/4 side of music and I like disco not disco and the quirkier side of house as well a lot of other music, the 3 of us dig all sorts of music as long as it’s got a good beat and is somehow new or a bit weird.
It’s a good mixture of influences though, we pretty much like all music but I would say that we all agree about Herbie Hancock, Fela Kuti, Sun Ra, Bruce Haack, Bernard Wright, Donald Byrd, Juan Atkins, Roni Size, El-B, Modeselektor and ESG to name a few.
As for what inspired us to make music, we were all trying to emulate the artist we dug at some particular moment in time. Then we started getting into synthesizers and drum machines, started building studios and got together to try to make the sum of our efforts something bigger than we could achieve individually.
HBF: You describe yourselves as a ‘trans-Atlantic Paraguayan trio,’ is there a big electronic music community in Paraguay? Any new homegrown talent we should know about?
The scene is getting better and better with the Migrana Crew representing the new sounds of dance music coming out of Paraguay, it’s a small scene but the good thing is that everyone knows each other and we try to help out as much as we get help from other producers such as Matias Espinola, Alex AQ, Roberto, East Guys and CHVZ who just featured on our last EP on Body Work.
I’m sure there is more people out there in Paraguay doing the daily grind and we would love to help them get more attention one way or another. That’s one of the beauties of the music scene, whenever you might feel down about what’s going on in music someone comes along and provides a reality check as well inspiration to carry on and better yourself.
HBF: Where did the name LPZ come from? Does it have secret meaning?
LPZ is the abbreviation of the name we were using to make hip-hop beats (Lopez), we wanted to differentiate both sounds so we decided to drop the vowels of the name, so people who were into the music we were making before could still make the connection between both outfits.
HBF: You’ve just released a new EP on Body Work called ‘Think for Yourself,’ can you describe it’s sound to us in five words?
Back to basics House Music.
HBF: Your debut EP ‘1983’ received wide spread acclaim from all over the globe, what did you do differently this time round with ‘Think For Yourself?’
I think we went a little bit harder this time, especially with the title track that’s a little bit dirtier than the stuff we produced before. We already showed some interest in ACID before (especially on Snake & Butterfish off the 1983 EP) but it was interesting to try this sound a little bit faster than the previously mentioned track so we could play it in our house sets.
It’s funny cause Think for yourself was done in between LA where CHVZ lives as well as Asuncion and London by the magic of the internet and somehow ended up sounding like it was coming from one place. Council Fonk and Without You were done in a more organic way, we already had some ideas for the basslines and some samples and we put them together when all 3 of us were in the studio. Overall we all think that all 3 tracks fit well together and are more developed to our 1983 EP, so we’re quite pleased.
HBF: The title track on ‘Think for Yourself’ has a distinctly Acid House flavour, do you think there’s still a place for classic House music or are we doomed to a future of EDM cheese?
Good music, as any significant art, will stand the test of time no matter the context or what the flavour of the month is. We aim to create something that we are proud of and think we will carry on playing in years to come, there is no point in trying to adjust to what the audience wants in a particular moment in time, as the end result of your work would just end up being a watered down version of what you are trying to express. So as long as the music is honest and connects with people (ideally on the dancefloor) no matter whether you are Adonis, JETS or Bohannon then it will be prevalent today and hopefully in the future. Easier said than done obviously but that’s the aim.
HBF: Your sets have been described as a ‘journey through music,’ featuring both recent tracks plus a selection of more vintage tunes from various genres. If you could play any venue or event, anywhere in the world, where would you pick and why?
It would be cool to soundtrack the apocalypse as it’s happening with an enormous soundystem that sounds as good as what Mancuso gets when he does the Loft, wouldn’t it? Can you imagine the visuals? No need for a strobe and no time for rewinds; all killer (mwahaha), no filler.
HBF: Where can we catch playing you next? Any tours in the pipeline?
We just finished doing sets in the UK, Croatia and Poland and in the next couple of months we are doing a few gigs in Brazil and Paraguay. We are also running a music workshop at the end of October in Asuncion as well as a CDR night there with the blessing of Tony Nwachukwu.
HBF: Finally, if you could design your ultimate summer festival line up, who would be the top five acts on the bill?
Chic circa 1977
Drexciya circa 1996
Miles Davis Quintet circa 1964
Black Sabbath circa 1971
Can circa 1973
You can exclusively download the brain-melting remix from Manchester-based producer C V N T, who’s debut 12-inch will be out later this month via Bodywork.
